Tuesday, January 02, 2007

The Have-Nots

Every New Yorker wants to persuade you that the capital of consumer lifestyle can offer you anything to your heart’s desire, but I just have to scoff at that idea.

The notion of bouncing from one bodega to another on New Year’s Eve searching for bags of ice wasn’t the ideal New York experience, but that’s exactly what happened. I’d duck my head just inside the door and ask “Do you sell any ice?” only to get blank stares from the guys behind the counter.

Yeah I know that at one point in time if you wanted ice you had to carry a block five miles from the next town over, but come on guys! Aren’t we supposed to have advanced since then? Weren’t we supposed to have Mr. Fusion cars and weather control by now?

If I wanted chess pieces shaped like Lord of the Rings characters, there’s an entire street in Greenwich dedicated to that. But oh my God, ice?!

The misconception in Manhattan is that there are so many stores jammed into the streets that you can find absolutely anything. The problem is that every store carries the same damn thing.

I’m sure that everyone’s had that wild goose chase around town to find a weird, obscure item. It’s just that in New York it’s much more impossible to hunt down your 5/17” drill bit or Japan-based soy sauce.

Booze and smokes I have no problem finding.

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